Food safety labeling plays an important role in reducing pathogens that cause foodborne-illnesses by date coding foods. Date coding foods helps to control the growth of certain kinds of bacteria, such as listeria monocytogenes, which is a bacteria that continues to grow at refrigerated temperatures. Thus, the purpose of date coding is to ensure that food contaminated with this bacteria is discarded. However, current food safety labeling means disclose a unit that includes both a side-by-side touch panel display and a printing/supply handling portion, such that the existing printer units are rather large and create a wide footprint that takes up valuable counter space in the kitchen environment, where the printer is most often utilized. Further, the printing/supply handling portion is typically housed and retained on the front door section of most existing printer units, which makes the front door heavy and easy to tip the entire unit forward. Additionally, most existing printer units are designed to only accommodate two different widths of label supply rolls. Therefore, there is a continuing need for a printer device that can print labels or other stock of varying widths, and for a printer device with a relatively small overall footprint.
The present invention discloses a printer, having multiple outlets for printing media and which is used for printing food safety labels or other stock. The printer device of the present invention is capable of accommodating supply rolls of many differing widths, and includes in one exemplary embodiment two ports for the printed labels or other stock to exit from and a touch panel screen for relatively easy operation. It should be understood that while multiple or dual outlet ports are provided, the printer may be configured with only one media supply and utilize only one outlet.
Specifically, the touch panel screen is preferably positioned in the center of a pivoting front door, with the printed materials exiting the printer from a lower position along the door below the touch panel screen, which creates a printer device having a smaller width than prior art units and thus, a smaller overall footprint. Further, the printer device comprises removable supply flanges which easily accommodate any width of supply roll or multiple rolls within its minimum and maximum width limits, and an adjustable loading chute which directs the supply web from the supply roll to the printing module for printing of the labels or other stock.